Fighting Fire with Fire
by JustaLittlebitlost
Summary: Nikki Boston has lived her adult life with army style regimented precision. Everything has a place, everything is planned and everything is straight forward. How will she cope when multimillionaire business tycoon Lorraine enters her life, disrupting and changing all of that?
1. Chapter 1

Nikki Boston had never been one to care about how others thought of her. That was until she met Loraine. Normally, if someone turned down the offer of going for a drink, she would simply shrug it off and get on with the day. But not Loraine.

Ever since Michael had first introduced her, Nikki was entranced by Loraine's stunning physique, her elegant style, her passion for business and her charm. Not able to help herself, she had asked her to go for a drink, which had an effect that Nikki could never have imagined. Loraine was speechless. She didnt immediately scream that she was straight which Nikki had half expected; She didnt say yes, as Nikki had hoped. For the first time in her life Loraine Donnagan, the millionaire owner of countless businesses, boss of thousands of staff was utterly speechless. It had caught Nikki off guard, she had panicked and made for the door the office like she was running from a burning inferno.

As Nikki made her way back to the PRU she wanted the ground to swallow her up. She felt stupid, embarrassed and most of all gutted that loraine hadn't given her the answer she wanted. She had been rejected in the past by women in a bar, but somehow this was different. She felt that she had really connected with Loraine and there was something more friendship the there. Nikkis' instincts were excellent, her years in the army had forced her to become very good at picking up on subtle body language and flirting. After all, no one wants to share barracks with a women who had rejected you for the rest of a tour of duty.

Nikkis pulse raced as she hastily gathered her possessions and made her way to the car. Without her usually precision and organisation she tossed her things on the passanger seat, revved the engine hard and accelerated away from waterloo road.

By the time she reached her apartment Nikki had not calmed down. sweat trickled down her wrist from where she gripped the wheel too hard, her fingers numb as she fumbled to open the door, leaving her things on the car seat. Normally nikki couldn't stand to leave anything messy, let alone her car but tonight there was only one thing that could calm her down. After getting in nikki rapidly changed into her running gear, grabbed a bottle of water and headed out down the costal trail towards the sea to get the wind through her hair, get her blood pumping and clear her head of any thoughts of what could have been between her and Loraine.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Nikki reached the seafront she had started to relax, her powerful toned muscles propelling her forward as her trainers pounded the path. She had settled into a comfortable, yet demanding pace allowing her to clear her mind of the day's events. Deep down she was gutted. Lorraine was something special, she mesmerised Nikki the way she elegantly commanded the corridors of her school in stilettos so high that Nikki's feet would ache just thinking about them. Lorraine's clothing was always exquisite; both highly professional yet very attractive, a combination most women would dream of being able to manage, however Lorraine appeared to achieve it with ease. Nikki on the other hand was never especially interested in fashion; she knew what worked for her and stuck with it. Hell, if she thought it would be acceptable she'd happily teach in combats and camouflage; that combination had done her proud for her ten year stint in the army. Lorraine's style and personality had made a huge impression on Nikki; she practically had butterflies in her stomach every time they even passed in the corridor. When they did meet conversation usually flowed with ease, making her believe that they had a real connection.

Nikki tried to push all thoughts of Lorraine out of her mind as she passed the harbour to make her way to the headland. As she came out of the shadow of the harbour wall the sea breeze hit her hard, making running forward more difficult. Gulping down some water Nikki got her head down to push forward as the last thoughts of Lorraine were leaving her mind. Nikki now relaxed, allowed her mind to drift off to what she might do when she got home; sure she had some English papers that really needed marking, but after a day like today they could wait until later in the holidays, and that a bottle of red wine would be a far enjoyable evening. Nikki lived alone in a small, third floor apartment near the sea. It was compact but due to her minimalist design choices, it looked deceptively big. Nikki looked forward to returning there, having a shower then enjoying the wine in front of the TV. It was days like this she really appreciated living alone.

Upon reaching the tip of the headland, Nikki allowed herself to stop running and admire the view. She really did live in a beautiful place, perhaps she would try kayaking over the holidays she thought to herself as she imagined how even more impressive the view would be from the water. Smiling to herself at the thought of having some time off work Nikki set off home, chasing the sun towards the horizon, as she didn't want to be running in the dark if she could help it. Nikki's mind drifted away from her as she rounded the corner.

BANG!

With an almighty thud Nikki hit the ground hard, disorientated she realised she had run into someone else. Without looking she started to apologise before she even turned herself around to see who she had run into. Pulling out her headphones as she spun around Nikki heard the voice before she saw recognised the face. It was Lorraine. She looked completely different to how Nikki had ever seen her before though; wearing loose baggy trousers and a tired and faded race for life T-Shirt, her blonde curls scraped back tight against her head with massive bug-eye sunglasses covering most of her petite face. If it hadn't been for the channel logo on the side Nikki might not have recognised her at all; after all Lorraine Donnegen must be the only person in Greenock to have enough money to wear shades with that sort of price tag.

"Lorraine?" Nikki couldn't help but sound surprised, after all she hadn't Lorraine down as the outdoor fitness type; she had always assumed she owned her own gym, or more likely chain on gyms. As the woman lifted her huge shades from in front of her eyes she realised that she had bumped into the one person she didn't want to see at that moment in time "N, N… Nikki?" Lorraine stuttered as the two women came face to face.


	3. Chapter 3

Lorraine and Nikki lay silently where they fell for a moment stuck in an awkward state of shock. Both women had gone running to try and push thoughts of each other out of their minds, yet now they would have to face up to the very problem they had been trying to run away from.

It was Lorraine who finally broke the silence. "God Nikki, are you ok? I'm sorry I didn't see you, it's the shades, their so dark …." Lorraine's voice trailed away as she realised how stupid she sounded to be blaming sunglasses for not seeing her. She would have been able to see Nikki perfectly clearly through the lenses had her eyes not been filled with tears at the time. Looking at Nikki she could see her foot was at an awkward angle. "Yeah I'm fine" Nikki replied, almost angrily. After all she had run as far away from waterloo road as she could yet somehow crashed into the very person she wanted to avoid, at the very least for the rest of the holidays. "What have you hurt? I can see your crying" Nikki continued, her military taking over pushing her feelings aside, after all an ambulance would never get here if Lorraine was seriously injured. Lorraine was mortified that Nikki had noticed she was crying. She knew making up an injury could save her the awkward conversation but somehow Lorraine figured that if she wasn't honest with Nikki she would just make an even bigger fool of herself. "I..I..I was crying before we collided" she mumbled, ashamed to admit it and looking down at the floor as she spoke.

Nikki was taken aback, what on earth could have upset Lorraine so much that she was crying, Nikki thought to herself. A business deal gone wrong? A sick family member, perhaps? Nikki went to see if she had a tissue in her pocket to offer Lorraine. As she moved she become aware of a sharp pain in her ankle; looking down at her foot, she could tell something was wrong. Letting out an involuntary gasp at the pain, Lorraine spoke before Nikki could find out why she was crying in the first place. "Your hurts aren't you? Is it your ankle? It doesn't look right". "I will be fine" Nikki replied as she went to get to her feet. Nikki had thought she would be able to walk through the pain to get her home, but now standing she realised that wasn't going to be an option. Lorraine could see that she was in a lot of pain, but also knew how stubborn Nikki could be about admitting defeat. "Nikki you're injured, even I can see that, do you need me to call an ambulance?" "I don't need an ambulance Lorraine I will be fine, it's just a sprain, I'll walk home and ice it." Nikki replied, wincing with every word. "For goodness sake, Nikki you can't walk home, you must live miles from here, there's only one house within two miles of here." "How do you know that?" Nikki replied, angry that Lorraine clearly wasn't taking no as an answer, the last thing she wanted was a trip to hospital on a Friday night. "Because the only house around here is mine." Lorraine replied. "Look if you won't go to hospital at least let me drive you home." Nikki relented, knowing she could never walk all the way home on her leg. "Ok, a lift home would be great, thanks."

Lorraine got up from the ground, and helped Nikki to steady herself on the uneven ground. "Look, lean on my shoulder on the way back, and before you argue it wasn't a request" Lorraine said sternly to Nikki, in the same manner she spoke to a misbehaving pupil. The two women began to walk slowly towards Lorraine's home. They walked in silence both unsure what to say to each other.

They were about half way back towards town when Lorraine led Nikki away from the coast towards a winding track. The track soon emerged on a quiet country lane, lined with high windswept hedges. There wasn't a car or house in sight, Nikki was wondering to herself how much further it would be when Lorraine broke the silence. "Just wait here and ill pop and get the car, I'll be fast as I car." With that Lorraine didn't give Nikki chance to answer and ran off at pace. Great, Nikki thought to herself, she's either gone to fetch the car so that I don't know exactly where she lives or she's got bored of helping me and will just send an ambulance to pick me up from here. Nikki sat wondering whether she would be able to get Lorraine to admit why she was crying earlier, whilst the sun was setting behind her when she heard the roar of Lorraine's car. The red Ferrari sped down the lane, from the opposite direction Lorraine had run, screeching to a halt in front of Nikki. Lorraine got out of the car and rushed to Nikki's side. "How's the ankle feeling now?" she asked tenderly as she helped Nikki to her feet, "quite sore" Nikki admitted, without thinking what she was saying. Normally she would never admit when she was in pain, yet somehow she felt at ease with Lorraine.

After helping Nikki into the car Lorraine turned the car around in the road, so it was heading away from town, and away from Nikki's house. "Thanks for this Lorraine; do you need directions to where I live?" The engine roared to life as Lorraine rapidly accelerated. "Don't mention it; I should have been looking where I was going in the first place. I'm not taking you straight home, you can put some ice on that ankle at my place, It's not far from here but the last bit of the walk is a steep footpath, so I decided to fetch the car before you make your ankle worse trying to get to mine." Nikki felt relieved, Lorraine obviously couldn't be that upset over earlier or she would be taking her straight home. After a few short minutes Lorraine turned off the road, onto a track, at the end of which a set of wrought iron gates opened as the Ferrari approached, and closed as soon as the car had passed. "Wow you have automatic gates?" Nikki couldn't help feel childish and point out the obvious; she didn't even have her own drive let alone gates. As Nikki looked at the house her jaw dropped.


	4. Chapter 4

High on a cliff, with a modern design, Lorraine's house was perfect. Facing out onto the sea and surrounding countryside there wasn't another building as far as the eye could see. You would never think that the town was just a few miles away. "Great view ain't it?" Lorraine couldn't help but grin as she saw Nikki's admiration of the house. Lorraine owned property all around the world but this place was her favourite. Secluded and beautiful, what more could she want? "Stunning" Nikki replied, almost speechless at the beauty of the place. "Let me help you inside" Lorraine said softly as she helped Nikki out of the car. As the women entered the house Lorraine guided Nikki through the open plan area to a cherry red sofa. After sitting Nikki down, she rushed to the kitchen promptly returning with an ice pack, a glass of water and a packet of pain killers. "Thank you for all of this Lorraine, I really appreciate it." Lorraine sat beside Nikki and placed her hand on Nikki's shoulder. "Look Nik, I know you're going to go nuts, but I phoned a doctor whilst I was coming to fetch you in the car. I realised you weren't going to go to hospital and I'd never forgive myself if I let you make it worse in the long run by overdoing it now" Nikki looked at her in disbelief. "Lorraine home visits from the doctors are for when you're dying not because you can't be bothered to go to hospital, they will be furious when they see it's all over a sprained ankle and that I could have gone to hospital myself. The NHS has enough money troubles without people calling out doctors for this kind of thing!" "Jesus Nikki you don't really think id waste time with those pointless doctors do you? Anyone who's anyone in orthopaedics works privately, and anyway when I'm paying they can turn up for a splinter if I say so. Doctor Martin is the best in Scotland. He sorted out my wrist a few years ago for me and was happy to come out."

"That must have cost a fortune Lorraine" Nikki said alarmed at the thought of Lorraine forking out just so Nikki didn't have to go to hospital. "Get a grip Nikki, it's nothing compared to how much it would cost me if you sued me, and don't even get me started on sick pay" Lorraine looked at Nikki as she said this and both women ended up laughing at the stupidity of what Lorraine had said.

A short while later there was a buzz on the intercom as the doctor arrived at Lorraine's gates. After Lorraine greeted him like an old friend as he knocked her front door, he swiftly got down to business. After thoroughly examining Nikki's ankle whilst Lorraine busied herself in another room, he gave his verdict. "Well Miss Boston, I have to say, you were exceptionally lucky not to break that. You have a very bad sprain but it should heal in a few weeks." "That's great news" Nikki replied, relieved that it was nothing more serious. After bandaging it up and leaving her a set of crutches the doctor spoke briefly to Lorraine then departed.

Lorraine then returned to the sofa where Nikki was sat. Whilst Nikki was with the doctor Lorraine had showered and changed into a jersey turquoise dress, with her damp hair loosely clipped to the back of her head. She looked beautiful Nikki thought as she sat feeling fairly disgusting herself. As if reading Nikki's mind Lorraine spoke softly as she said "If you want to have a shower feel free to use anything in my bathroom." "Thanks Lorraine, but I haven't got any clean clothes with me or anything" Nikki replied whilst sighing, she would give anything for a nice shower now but it wouldn't feel right to then put her dirty running kit back on. "Look Nikki, I've got loads of clothes upstairs I've never even worn. Sure they might be a little short for you but your welcome to lend some if you want to freshen up, I know how running can make you feel." Nervously, Nikki nodded and with the help of Lorraine made her way to the bathroom. She didn't want to use the crutches and left them by the sofa instead using Lorraine for support as before.

Nikki was in a world of her own under the warm jets of water in the shower when there was a gentle knock at the door. "I've left some clothes for you by the door, I'll be downstairs if you want anything" "Thanks" Nikki replied and continued to enjoy her shower. Once she had finished, she wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel, before going to see what clothes Lorraine had left for her. She smiled to herself as she saw them. A pair of new running trousers, a tank top and a hoody. They weren't dissimilar to what Nikki would choose for herself. Underneath Nikki found some underwear, still with labels attached that were far flimsy and lacy than anything Nikki would chose for herself but in the circumstances would have to do. Getting dressed quickly, and towelling her hair Nikki tidied up the bathroom and headed downstairs. As she reached the sofa she saw Lorraine sat looking nervous. She was holding two wine glasses and an expensive bottle of red. Looking straight at Nikki she apprehensively spoke. "Hey Nikki, can we talk?" without saying a word Nikki made her way over to the sofa, took the glasses from Lorraine, poured them both a glass and sat next to her before finally breaking the silence. "Sure, lets talk."


End file.
